SPARK Award for Undergraduate Research

Application due date for the current round: October 28, 2024

NEW! Going forward, we plan to accept applications for the SPARK Awards once each semester. The next deadline will be in March 2025.

Thanks to a generous endowment created by Michael H. and Nancy E. Scarbrough, the Department of Linguistics is able to offer funding to support undergraduate research projects. There are two categories of awards, which are described below.

(1) Undergraduate travel awards

Students may receive from $250 to $500 to support travel to present their research at a regional or national conference during the current academic year (2024-25, including Summer 2025). The award may be used to support conference travel that has already taken place, or planned travel for a presentation that has been accepted. Please submit the attached application form, together with the abstract for your presentation, a copy of the official notification of the acceptance of your presentation, and a letter of support from the faculty mentor supervising the research project.

(2) Undergraduate research projects

Students may receive up to $1000 to fund a research project. Please submit the application form linked below, together with a detailed project proposal and a budget, as well as a letter of recommendation from a faculty mentor who will supervise your work. For research involving human subjects, please also include a copy of the IRB approval for the project. Students must present the results of their research at a departmental symposium upon completion of the project.

SPARK Awards are open to Linguistics majors. Priority will be given to students who have not previously received a SPARK Award, but previous recipients may also reapply (with a limit of $2000 in total funding received). Note that this funding may be subject to limits on financial aid eligibility for the semester in which the award is received. Please contact the Office of Financial Aid if you have questions.

Please use the following form to apply: SPARK Undergrad Research Application. Completed applications can be submitted to Amy Smoler at linguistics@uga.edu or 142 Gilbert Hall.